Mountain Activities
The Chaffee County would be the richest little county in the country. Fifteen of Colorado's 54 highest peaks, those taller than 14,000 feet - aka Fourteeners - reside here in south central Colorado. On a clear day, expansive views from the summits of these behemoths stretch to Colorado's borders with New Mexico, Wyoming and Utah. Veteran peak baggers know the best way to improve odds for a successful summit include getting a pre-sunrise start, pack lots of water, dress in layers, stick to established trails and turn back immediately if bad weather approaches.
• 14ers-Peak Bagging
• Golfing
• Hiking and Backpacking
• Horseback Riding & Llama Trekking
• Hunting
• Mountain Biking
• Off Roading & Jeep Tours
• Road Biking
• Rock Hounding
• Rock/Ice Climbing & Mountaineering
• Skiing and Snowboarding
• Snowmobiling
• Snowshoeing and Cross-Country Skiing
River Activities
The Arkansas River stretches across America for 1460 miles from the Continental Divide near Leadville, Colorado to the mouth of the Mississippi River at the Mississippi-Arkansas state line. That makes the Arkansas River the 6th longest river in the United States. From its source below Mount Elbert (14,431 ft), the highest peak in the state, the Arkansas River drops a whopping 10,000 ft in the first 125 miles as it courses through Lake, Chaffee and Fremont Counties. This mountainous section of clear water creates a playground for whitewater rafting as the Arkansas River provides some of the nation's best known whitewater rafting on the Granite Gorge, the Numbers, Browns Canyon and the Royal Gorge.

Welcome to Canyon Marine. We'd like to invite you to join us on one of our river rafting adventures this year. Whether you seek a quiet float, an intro to whitewater, or raging rapids, Canyon Marine has a trip on the Arkansas River for you. Come join us. We've got a Colorado Whitewater Rafting Trip planned for you!

At Canyon Marine, your enjoyment is our top priority. We use self-bailing whitewater rafts to ensure a more comfortable and enjoyable ride, and all our guests are fitted with top-quality Coast Guard approved life jackets. All of our trips include the option of riding in a paddleboat, in which each person has a paddle and works with the guide as part of a coordinated crew, or an oarboat, in which the guide does all the rowing and the passengers just enjoy the ride. In either case, all our trips begin with a thorough orientation and safety talk.

Local Phone Number 719-539-4444

www.canyonmarine.com 
Anderson Motor Company 4X4 jeep Rental

Anderson Motors - Rocky Mountain Jeep Rentals welcomes you to Salida, Colorado in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. Located in Chaffee County, we have more 14,000 ft. peaks (called Fourteeners by the locals) than any other county in Colorado.

Anderson Motors - Rocky Mountain Jeep Rentals will help you get offroad, off the beaten path, and experience all that Colorado has to offer. Drive your car here, load your gear in our Jeep and Camper, and it's off to your new adventure.

Anderson Rentals • Anderson Motor Co.
345 West Highway 50; Salida, CO 81201
Phone: (719) 539-3088 • Cell: (719) 221-0757
Fax: (719) 539-3088 •Toll Free: 1-888-539-2101
Send Us An Email

http://www.rockymountainjeeprentals.com/
• Arkansas River Rafting
• Fishing
• Hot Springs
• Inflatable Kayaking
• Whitewater Kayaking
Ghost Towns & Mining Camps
Visits to nearby ghost towns and mining camps are a top priority for vacationers. The region has numerous abandoned ghost towns, mining camps, and mountain homesteads, remnants of the original Colorado settlers, who came to the region to mine gold and silver. These sites are often featured on jeep tours offered by local guides.
Great Sand Dunes
Great Sand Dunes is a treasure of visual, geological, and biological surprises—a high mountain valley holding the tallest dunes in North America and flanked by some of the highest peaks in the Rocky Mountains; unique wind-powered geologic systems; insects physically adapted to life in the sand and found nowhere else; alpine lakes and tundra; disappearing creeks; interdunal wetlands and much more!
Monarch Crest Tram
Climbing from 11,312-foot Monarch Pass to the Continental Divide at an altitude of 12,012 feet, this tram offers views of five mountain ranges -- up to 150 miles away -- when skies are clear. The tram includes six four-passenger gondolas.
Mt. Shavano Fish Hatchery
This state-run fish hatchery, about a half mile northwest of town off Colo. 291, produces some four million trout each year, used to stock Colorado's numerous streams and lakes. Visitors can see how the hatchery operates, walk among the fish raceways and ponds, and feed the fish (food provided from coin-operated machines). Guided tours are provided daily from June until Labor Day, and self-guided tours are available at other times. Allow 30 minutes to an hour.
Salida Art Walk
The Salida Art Walk is one of the City's premier annual events. It is a celebration of the arts. Nationally known artists, sculptors, jewelers, and crafts people display and sell their works at stores and galleries throughout the historic town. Art enthusiast will find an ever-growing field of art and artists available to them at the Salida Art Walk.
Salida Hot Springs
Colorado's largest indoor hot springs have been in commercial operation since 1937, when the Works Progress Administration built the pools as a Depression-era project. Ute tribes considered the mineral waters, rich in bicarbonate, sodium, and sulfate, to be sacred and medicinal. Today, the main 25m (82-ft.) pool, with two lap lanes available at all times, is kept at a refreshing 82°F (28°C), and a 4-foot-deep leisure pool, with a ramp entrance, is kept at about 100°F (38°C). European-style private hot baths, at 114° to 120°F (46°C-49°C), are available for adults only ($6 per person per hr.). Also available are aquasize and arthritis classes, and swimming lessons for all ages. Adjacent Centennial Park has a picnic pavilion, playground, and tennis and volleyball courts.
Salida Museum
The Salida Museum provides a look at the history of this part of Colorado, with a wide selection of pioneer, mining, and railroad exhibits, plus displays on the lives of the American Indians who lived here. You'll see lots of arrowheads, plus exhibits that explain how baskets and pots were made. The museum also contains rocks, fossils, and shells from the area, plus petrified wood and dinosaur bones and teeth. You can learn about Laura Evans, a local madam who operated a brothel in Salida from the late 1800s until 1953, and see a replica of a lady's bedroom of the late 1800s, bizarre-looking medical equipment, and bone baskets -- used to transport corpses in the early 1800s.